To Be an Eorzean Hero
by KSTTKU
Summary: When Zelretch, Master of Trolls, sends a hapless twelve-year old boy fresh from his father's funeral straight to the outskirts of Thanalan, how will the continent, five years after the Calamity, change because of him? And how will the boy change in return? ***Looking for a beta. PM for details***
1. Chapter 1

It can be said that throughout the myriad dimensions and universes that exist within the confines of the multiverse, anything is possible. For the average person, this means little or nothing, as most were only concerned with what was possible for themselves in their own world. But for Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, Wizard Marshall of the Mage's Association, immortal vampire, and convenient plot device for many a fanfic writer, it was the crux of the Second True Magic. It also meant that somewhere, someone was writing down his very thoughts at any given moment for use in some story. Whether or not it was because he placed the idea in their heads or because the writer dictated his actions is up for debate.

It was in one of these infinite realities that Shirou Emiya, standing in front of his adoptive father's grave at his funeral, found himself face to face with the man known throughout the magical community as the greatest immortal prankster known to man. And yet, no one around him noticed the sudden appearance of a man that no one recognized, none except him. Shirou didn't know who the strange old man in front of him was, but he could detect the overwhelming levels of prana attached to the man, likely the result of whatever mystery he had utilized to suddenly appear before him without anyone so much as making a peep. It was this alone that prevented him from crying out and alerting the small gathering of people that were attending Kiritsugu Emiya's funeral from Fuyuki. It was this perceived lack of response that allowed Zelretch to make an offer to the young twelve year-old that would forever change his path from the standard Shirou Emiya destiny.

"Hello there, boy. Now, while I'm sure you might have several, no doubt insignificant, questions for me, I have a much more relevant question for you, and quite frankly, it's much more amusing for myself than anything that could ever come out of your mouth at this stage in your life, so I'll get right to it. How would you like to be a hero? A true champion of justice, solving the problems of the common people, rescuing kittens from trees, saving fair maidens from womanizing rogues, solving tax problems, the whole nine yards? There are however, a few conditions that you'll have to be made awa-"

"I'll do it, no matter the conditions."

"Excellent my dear foolish boy! Accepting without knowing what will happen is exactly the sort of thing that makes it all the more entertaining! Now, if you could just take a few steps backwards we'll be all set."

"Okay, but set for wha-AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..."

As the portal to another dimension on the floor closed up behind the poor hapless young boy, the man known as the Kaleidoscope smiled savagely, before taking out a small device that would not be invented for a good twenty-plus years or so and tapped the screen a few times before frowning.

"Damn. Spooked by Kirei and his black keys again. Oh wait!" His eyes lit up in hope. "The three star's turning into a gold! Atalanta atalanta atalanta atalanta atanyanta... oh. Well, I guess DelightWorks is trying to tell me something if they gave me _him_ then."

On the screen, displayed on a small card, was a man with white hair belying his youthful appearance, with tanned skin, cold, steel-gray eyes, and scowl on his face while wielding two chinese falchions.

"I wonder what would've been the result if I'd asked him instead. It would've made for a great Fray encounter."

With those words, the mysterious old man turned and left in a release of multicolored light, later leaving the requisite documents at the Fuyuki municipal building for the adoption of one Shirou Emiya by an old friend of his deceased first adoptive father, and altering the memories of those in attendance at the funeral to accept that notion, even if some of them, an excitable high school girl in particular, did not particularly like it.

In a small forest situated by a large desert, a ring of light suddenly appeared, followed by an orange-haired young man flying out of the circle vertically, before falling back to the ground, the circle fading as he exited it. Dazed, he stayed on the ground for a few moments before he registered a voice calling out to him. Groaning, he picked himself up before turning around to respond to whoever was speaking. And then blinked. In front of him were two large...bird...things. With terrifyingly large beaks that looked sharp enough to tear and maim flesh and two large, well-muscled legs adorned with razor sharp claws that could cripple a man with but a kick, the young man was understandably perturbed when one of the monsters looked at him with a hungry(or was it curious?) look in its eyes.

"I said, are you alright, lad?"

Looking towards the voice, he realized that a carriage was attached to the creatures, denoting it was, in fact, acting as some sort of horse. Strangely, at the reins of the horsebirds, there appeared to be only a potato where the carriage driver would sit, followed by the passenger area, with two white-haired twins whose individual sexes could not be determined at a glance, and a tanned, blonde man with a beard. The man beckoned him over to the back of the carriage and helped him up, as the carriage began moving along, seemingly without a driver at the reins.

"I saw you pop out of that circle lad. Looks like your teleport spell was disrupted during your voyage. I have to say, it's the first time I've seen such a thing happen in person, instead of as a story told around a table at some gods forsaken tavern or another. You alright?"

"I'm fine sir, thank you. Just a bit disorientated is all." Shaking his head as if to clear his mind, the youth responded.

"Must've been the effects of the aether then. You'll get used to it, don't worry. Sorry, I hope you don't mind joining me to Ul'dah do you? Them young'uns don't care much for conversation, see."

Having been assaulted with foreign term after term, Shirou Emiya decided to simply go with the flow and see where it would take him, after all, he had decided to forego any introduction as to where he was going or what it would be like. Having realized that he was being subjected to the Second True Magic while falling through the gap between dimensions, he simply decided to not draw much attention to himself for the time being and nodded as a response.

Before the grizzled passenger across from him could respond however, two more of the horsebirds, each with a rider atop them, flanked the carriage, and a voice from further in front of the vehicle barked at them.

"You there...Halt!"

Suddenly, a voice came from the direction of the potato on the driver's seat.

"What's all this about?"

"Inspection! Men, search the carriage!"

A man with his face obscured by his mask came around to the back of the carriage as Shirou slowly tensed up, prepared to help protect the friendly man in front of him and the twins off to the man's left if need be, although how much he intended to do as a twelve-year old was a cause for concern. The grizzled passenger however, calmly turned to the man with a confident smile on his face.

"I'm just an honest peddler, friend. So, er... don't be too disappointed if you don't find nothin' eh?"

The masked man simply put his hand on the scimitar hanging by his waist and told him to shut up, albeit in a more threatening manner than described here. He then took a pouch from behind his back and then turned to the man riding on the horsebird that had formerly been in front of the carriage, having moved to the back sometime during the conversation and waving the pouch to him.

"Sir look! Somnus!"

Sharing a smirk between them, the mounted man turned to the bearded man.

"Honest peddler, was it? Since when do honest peddlers deal in prohibited herbs? You're in a lot of trouble, old man. You'll rot in a dungeon till the end of your days...unless you can afford the fine."

Shaking his head at the blatant corruption but still smiling all the while, the man turned to Shirou and sighed.

"Heh, business as usual..."

Before anyone could say more, Shirou noticed a glint headed for the man from behind him. Reaching out and warning him, the man just barely missed having an arrow lodged in his back, and cried out at the offending projectile now stuck firmly in the carriage floor. Further behind him, another masked soldier was running towards them, closely followed by what appeared to be lizardmen, one of which holding the bow that had shot the arrow towards them.

"Amalj'aa! Amalj'aa! To arms! To arms!"

Turning towards the runner, the mounted man, evidently the captain or equivalent of the band of soldiers, grimaced.

"Seven hells...Consider this a warning! Now _go_ ––all of you!"

Wasting no time, the carriage sped off, while the soldiers drew blades and charged the two beastmen evidently called Amalj'aa. After some distance had gone by, the grizzled old man across from him finally relaxed and let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew, that kind of excitement ain't good for the heart. You be careful around them Brass Blades, lad." Evidently referring to the men from earlier, Shirou nodded. "Bastards'll have the shirt off your back if they fancy it. Like common bandits they are, only less honest. Thank the gods for sendin' some beastmen to the rescue, eh?" Snorting, the man carried on. "Figuring now's about a time as any, Brendt's the name, an' peddlin's me trade." Giving Shirou a glance-over, he continued. "An' judgin' by your unusual garments, I'll wager you're one of them new adventurers."

Confused at his statement, Shirou looked down, and once more, for the second time that day, stopped. And blinked. Zelretch had evidently aged him physically by five or so years, causing him to grow to around 167 centimeters, or about 5'6", to use the imperial standard. He was furthermore garbed in what was most definitely _not_ funeral wear, instead being a white tunic belted around his waist with pouches hanging off the side, in addition to black leather thighboots and shorts. Curiously, there was a brown leather strap from his right shoulder to just over his heart on his shirt for seemingly no reason other than for looks. He also noticed that there was a weathered short sword on his waist. Nodding to Brendt, he idly wondered how he hadn't noticed it until then, before chalking it up to his initial disorientation upon arrival. Smiling, Brendt continued.

"I knew it! Goin' wherever the wind blows, seekin' fortune an' glory––now _that's_ what I call livin'! So long as you can avoid dyin', I mean. Ain't no secret that adventurin's a risky business––these days especially. What was it that first attracted you to it?"

Pausing to think for a bit, Shirou decided on an answer.

"I need power. Power so I can be a hero of justice!" Stating it as if it was the most natural thing in the world, Shirou didn't notice Brendt giving him a strange look.

"Like protectin' the weak, an' fightin' for what's right, an' all that? Well, adventurers do get up to a lot of fightin', that's for sure. You'll never be short of a chance to polish your warcraft in the adventurin' business. When you arrive in town, you'd best enroll at the Adventurer's Guild––they'll set you on the right path. An' it wouldn't hurt to join a guild, neither. Ul'dah's home to a few, so if you fancy learnin' how to fight with a sword, your fists, or even spells, you should think about seekin' one out. Just remember, though: there's things more important than fortune an' glory. Such as _breathin'_. Ain't no profit, nor saving more people, in bein' dead, and that's a fact. By the by, is this your first trip to Ul'dah?"

"Never even heard of it before."

Finally dropping the bombshell, he'd been sitting on since he first heard of unfamiliar terms, Shirou continued to shock his fellow passengers. "Don't know what you mean by aether, either. And I certainly do not know how we're moving when no one's at the reins and two horsebird-things at the front. Gaping at the young man, Brendt simply slowly shook his head, while the sibling with the blue knot and green collar raised an eyebrow and turned to him, the first sign that he acknowledged his presence the entire ride.

"Gods...you mean to tell me that you don't know about chocobos?" Shirou shaked his head. "Or the aether?" Another shake. "An' you can't even recognize a lalafell when you see one?" As Shirou replied in the negative, Brendt sighed, exasperated. " Your memories must've been jumbled up when the aether kicked you out then. I'm assuming you don't know where you are, either? Don't bother answering that, I know the answer already." Digging around in the bags by the carriage, he took out a compass, two maps, and a parchment featuring various men and women of varying heights, skin tones, and facial structure, along with some more potatoes similar to what was at the driver's reins. "Seein' as we got time before we reach the city, I'll just explain to ya the state of the realm. Just don't fall asleep on me, lad, I'm not one fer teachin'."

For the next half-hour, Brendt explained to Shirou, in abridged detail, about Eorzean history, as well as the various races, before starting the explanation on Ul'dah.

"Seein' as this is your first time coming to Ul'dah, why don't you let this journeyed itinerant tell you the ins an' outs of your destination. Ul'dah's ruled by the sultana in name, but as most folks know, the Syndicate holds all the real power. Them and their monetarist cronies would happily get rid of Her Majesty altogether, but that won't happen while she still commands the loyalty of the Royalists–an' the Royalists are nothin' if not loyal. These factions have long fought over power, throwin' the weight of their wealth against each other, an' they show no sign of stoppin'. Course the lizardmen–that's the Amalj'aa–couldn't care less about Ul'dahn politics. They have their own interests, see–an' they ain't afraid to use force to serve 'em. They say war is a gift to peddlers–need breedin' profit–an' though it shames me to say it, I'm inclined to agree..." Turning over his shoulder, Brendt gave a smile as he turned back to Shirou. "Ah, at long last. Behold Ul'dah, jewel of Thanalan, where folk turn sand into gold!"

Passing through a gate and rounding the bend, the city slowly came into view. And what a view it was. With architecture that vaguely reminded him of pictures of the Taj Mahal Kiritsugu had shown him, Shirou was still left breathless at the sight, appearing like a rose standing in defiance to the sun-baked desert all around him. Getting off the carriage, Brendt turned to Shirou, while the twins walked off into the city.

"An' here's where we part ways lad. I'm off to the markets to deliver me wares, then it's on to the highroad for me. In addition to the maps and the compass, which I want you to keep if only so you don't get horribly lost, I want you to have this–by way of thanks for puttin' up with me prattle and providin' me with some entertainment. You never did tell me your name, though. Hey, but here's an idea...Become the sort of storied personage I can brag about havin' met, an' I'll consider us square."

Reaching into his pocket, Brendt gave him a ring with a dark gem set within, before turning and walking into the city. Glancing at the ring, Shirou was startled to realize that it had minor enchantments that boosted the wearer's ability to discern weak spots, similar to a quick Structural Analysis except weaker in power yet constantly active for as long as the ring was equipped. Quickly putting it on, Shirou turned and walked towards the massive entrance, hoping to find the Adventurer's Guild that Brendt had mentioned earlier. As he passed through the gates, he heard a voice call out to him, for the second time that day.

"Oi, 'venturer! Over here!" With the feeling that such things had only begun Shirou turned towards the source, a dusty-haired man with decidedly stylish shades leaning against a lamppost, and walked towards him, beginning the start of a journey that would take him all over the continent, and start him on the path of being a hero.

 **Hey there. This is the result of bored thoughts leading up to designing a basic concept storyboard and everything for a crossover between Type Moon's most famous cash cow franchise and Square Enix's massive failure that turned into a massive success. Or at least I think so. It was also born out of a desire to write an FFXIV fic that wasn't some sort of self-insert/crossover that took place in Eorzea but wasn't using the MMORPG aspect that's been ever so popular since SAO got animated all the way back in my freshman year of high school. And then exploded with popularity as soon as the Occulus Rift became a thing and VR headsets by 2022 didn't seem so impossible anymore.**

 **In any case I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Updates will start off every month or so, but once I reach patch 2.55's storyline it'll probably slow down to every 3 months or so, to leave enough time for the next expansion, which is currently my goal as to how long I'll keep writing this. Damn you, MMOs, and your inability to be beaten. After all, when's the last time you heard of someone beating/** _ **playing**_ **EverQuest?**

 **Tata for now,**

 **Yusao**

 **P.S Yes, I had to get in that SAO Abridged reference.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Happy Thanksgiving, to those of us in the United States, and a good November 26th to the rest of you guys. Fair warning, this update is NOT meant as a good estimate for average update time, Thanksgiving is just when it was most convenient for me to sit down and go through the cutscenes again due to my being off from school. The plan is still once a month until 2.55, but every so often I may write more as time allows and you'll get chapters early, such as now. In other news, as of the start of this writing (the 18th) patch 3.1 of Final Fantasy XIV has been out for about eight days now, and boy did it bring a lot. Fun fact, did you know Krile's japanese CV is also the current singer for FripSide and plays Eli Ayase in Love Live? I'm more of a boatgrill man over an idols man myself, but I did find it interesting. Anyways, onto something relevant.**

 **Some of you may have noticed that Shirou's hair was described as orange last chapter, when by all descriptions he should be a redhead. The thing is, if you were to try and make a character with as many possible traits as Mr. "People Die When They Are Killed/Just Because You're Right Doesn't Make You Correct" in FFXIV, you'll find that to get the hair color closest to that depicted in Type-Moon's colored illustrations, you'll have to actually choose a color closer to orange in the hair-color selection screen, as the red options are a more realistic reddish-brown color (think Derplander). Also, as a friendly reminder, please keep in mind that Shirou here is mentally twelve-years old, as well as having just been zapped to Eorzea straight from Kerry's funeral. Not exactly the high-functioning sociopath/distortion that we know and love/hate from the timeline of the Fifth Fuyuki Grail War, and as such will be much more immature until the character development I have planned for him comes through. So just make sure you know that the Shirou you're reading about here is (to my reasoning) in the height of his idealism, boosted by scraps of childish innocence and naivety he still had leftover from when the fire happened, as he wouldn't have had the 5 years or so to go through life a bit more and realize that the world isn't exactly a peaceful place.**

 **Ability-wise, this means that while he'll still have learned Nasuverse magecraft by replacing his nerves with circuits, he won't have been doing it long enough that it would be hard to unlearn outside of a life-or-death situation. This also means that his circuits, while not active, won't have atrophied as much from disuse. He's still not gonna pull out fancy-schmancy projection magic or reinforcing however. After all, this is Eorzea he's in after all, and since he doesn't have a third eye like a pure-blooded Garlean national, it'll be assumed that he can perform Eorzean magic, such as conjury, arcanics, and (heh) thaumaturgy. For easy reference, Nasuverse hocus-pocus will be referred to exclusively as magecraft while each of the branch of Eorzean magic studied in Ul'dah will be known as thaumaturgy.**

 **Now, I've gone on a long enough spiel about the mechanics in this crossover, so I'll wrap this note off with an announcement.**

 **Anyone willing to put up my unreliable writing schedule and beta this story is free to send me a PM. The only requirements are that you have good grammar. Completion of FFXIV's storyline up to 2.0 and/or basic knowledge of Nasuverse mechanics are welcome, but not necessarily required.**

 **And without further ado, enjoy the story.**

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"Oi, 'venturer! Over here! Aye, I mean you. Fresh off the carriage, by any chance?" Nodding in the affirmative to the ash-haired man with impeccable shades, Shirou began to ask the man how he knew when he answered for him. "Eh? How can I tell? Heh! Name's Wymond, an' my business is knowin' every bugger else's! Now then, what if I was to offer you some invaluable advice by way of welcome to our fair city? Free of charge, even–just this once, like."

At this Shirou knew that he was no longer a friendly-seeming man with cool shades, but instead a suspicious stranger with eye-obscuring sunglasses, and Kiritsugu had always told him about men like that being liable to kidnap young children into the back of unmarked vans and molesting them or being drug dealers who were probably too high on their own product to realize they were selling it to a small child, and promptly began walking off before Wymond could cause harm to himself or others in the vicinity. Without even getting ten meters away, he heard him call back to him. "Don't be like that, friend! I promise I'll make it worth your while!" Deciding to humor the man, Shirou turned back and stood before Wymond once more, this time wary of his stylish shaded lenses.

"'Tis plain to anyone with eyes that you don't know your way around here. If I let you go wanderin' off down the nearest dark alley you're certain to get mugged or worse, an' I don't want that on my conscience. So before you do anythin' else, you'll want to head over to the Quicksand, an' speak with Momodi. She's the master of the Adventurers' Guild, an' can set you on the right path. Just take those steps over yonder"– here Wymond pointed to a pair of stairs that curved up to a large round door– "an' pass through the double doors. You'll find her inside. ...An' that's as much as you're gettin' for free. Good luck with the adventurin', adventurer."

Evidently, Wymond's slick shades weren't evidence of a shady personnage after all, and were in fact reflective of the fact that he was in possession of a heart of gold. Or at least, that's what Shirou thought Wymond wanted him to think. Thanking him for the advice, Shirou started walking towards the stairs, and when Wymond turned away, made for the nearest well-lit alleyway he could find. Or at least, he made five steps in the general direction of one before he walked into someone. Apologizing, Shirou made to continue on his way before the person he crashed into firmly grasped his arm.

"Hey, weren't you on the carriage that just arrived? All new adventurers are required to register at the guild before wandering off into the city. Head to the Quicksand, just past those doors above the stairs over there."

Thanking the one who had almost given him a heart-attack when he grabbed him, Shirou finally heeded Wymond's (now proven honest) advice and entered the establishment known as the Quicksand. From the outside, it seemed like a lavish inn and restaurant in addition to apparently being the headquarters of the local adventurer's guild. He was starkly disappointed. It was nothing more than a tavern. At a table by the entrance, there was a trio of adventurers arguing over their next destination. One of them, an Elezen male, according to the chart Brendt provided him, was giving naught much else but snark while a female Miqo'te complained about the snark. Deep in thought (at least Shirou thought so, as their eyes looked glazed over) sitting on the other side of the Elezen was a male Hyur midlander, evidently the party's leader. Moving on, Shirou spotted a female potato Lalafell speaking with some other adventurers. Evidently the Momodi Wymond had spoken of, Shirou went to introduce himself.

"Why, hello there! Who might you be? If you're lookin' to join the Adventurers' Guild, you've come to the right place. Name's Momodi, and I own this fine establishment, if it please you. I also manage the Adventurers' Guild here in Ul'dah. So you might say that lookin' after green adventurers like yourself is my vocation. And lucky for you that it is. Without someone like me to steer you right, you'd soon find yourself out in the middle of nowhere, caught up in business you don't understand. Like our conflict with the Amalj'aa, for example. They've been plaguin' the sultanate for nigh on,"–here Momodi made an exaggerated thinking motion–"oooh... _forever_ now. Then there's the Garlean Empire. None can say for sure what they're plottin' these days, only that they _are_." Nodding to herself in her apparent wisdom, Momodi continued, with a sad, knowing smile on her face now. "Aye, the people drink and make merry...but underneath it all, there's worry. Worry and a lingerin' feelin' of loss. And little wonder. It's scarce been five years since the lesser moon cracked open like a giant egg, releasin' an abomination intent on turnin' the realm into an eighth hell...So much was lost in the blink of an eye. 'Twas like the end of the world had come at last." Momodi's sad smile turned nostalgic, and she tilted her head to the ceiling. "But then things begin to get foggy. Everyone's got their own version of what happened next–some of 'em, two or three...You'd think people would remember somethin' like that–but the fact is, they don't. Nobody does. There is one thing the survivors agree on, though: the part played by a band of adventurers who laid down their lives for a realm that wasn't their own. They fought valiantly, and like so many others, they never returned. Deeds worth rememberin', I'm sure you'll agree." Having had the thought on his mind, Shirou interrupted Momodi's speech with the question in his heart. "So then, they were heroes then?" A bit put-off that a newbie adventurer had interrupted her customary expository speech, Momodi nodded and continued on. "It's just a shame our recollections of those brave heroes are as jumbled as those of the Calamity itself. Whenever we try to call their faces to mind, it's like they're standin' between us and the midday sun, permanently silhouetted...I'll bet that sounds poetic to you, doesn't it?" Shirou nodded, and Momodi harrumphed. "Well it's not. It's bloody infuriatin'. But even if we can't remember them, we'll not let 'em be forgotten, and so we call 'em the Warriors of Light. And they'll forever stand as a shinin' example of what adventurers can achieve. That's why I welcome new arrivals like yourself to our fair city. All I ask is that you lend a helpin' hand, and try to leave Ul'dah in a better state than you found her. If you can promise that, I'd be happy to let you join the guild." Within a heartbeat, Shirou replied that he would not only do just that, he'd also aspire to be a hero just like the Warriors of Light Momodi had mentioned. However, Momodi simply gave a small smile at his response. "While that's great and all, do try to not die now, alright? Being a hero's great an' all but it don't mean a single gil if you're not around to do some more hero-in'." Perking up, Momodi continued. "All right, then! A promise is a promise now, hero portion notwithstandin'. I'm countin' on your help to put the past behind us. We need people workin' and spendin' and bickerin' like the old days! And a happy and prosperous Ul'dah means more business for the Quicksand, too! Anyroad, let's make this official. Go ahead and write your name in the register–neat as you can, surname last." At this Shirou, panicked, remembering that he hadn't learned this world's language, before he looked at the parchment and found that it looked remarkably similar to English, a language Kiritsugu had taught him due to its practicality and ubiquitous use on Earth, barring a few letters that looked like they had been rotated. Looking for each equivalent letter of his name on the parchment, Shirou copied them down in the order of his name, before handing the register back to Momodi.

"...Shirou Emiya. Well, ain't that a charmin' name. Just rolls off the tongue, it does, even if it does seem a bit Doman to me. All right, Mister Emiya! On behalf of the Adventurers' Guild, I officially–" whatever Momodi was about to say was cut off as a horrified cry rang out behind Shirou.

"Please, sir, be merciful! Twelve as my witness, I swear to you, I'll bring you your money!"

What appeared to be a gullible gambler was lying on the floor, having been knocked down by the two men on either side of a male lalafell, evidently their boss, as well as a debt collector. "In the East, it is said that even a merciful god might be driven to vengeance if thrice blasphemed. Be grateful you were given a fourth chance to offend. You two, attend to this scum."

Motioning at the man, the diminutive debt collector turned and left the Quicksand, while his two lackeys dragged the gambler behind him, the man's cries of mercy trailing behind them as the doors closed on their exit of the building.

Shirou made to follow them before a hand reached out and grabbed him with surprising force. Turning, he saw that it was Momodi, looking between Shirou and the man being dragged out of the Quicksand before firmly shaking her head. "Now I know you want to be a hero an' all, but legally that ain't a problem you can do anythin' about unless you got gil, and I'm pretty sure you don't have anywhere near enough that you'll need to pay that man's debt off. It's a sorry sight for sure, but neither is it an uncommon one, if I'm honest. Don't worry, though–if you work hard, I doubt you'll end up like him." Letting go of Shirou now that it would be impossible for him to track them in the throng of people in a heavily populated city like Ul'dah outside, Momodi turned to look straight at Shirou. "Just the same, if you ever need a bit of advice about one thing or another, pay me a visit. Just don't go botherin' me every time you stub your bloody toe, all right?" Although upset he hadn't been able to save the man, legality be damned, Shirou couldn't help but break a small smile upon Momodi's remark. Momodi herself simply leaned in closer to Shirou and waggled her eyebrows suggestively. "'Course, I _do_ enjoy hearin' tell of a gentlemen's woes with the womenfolk from time to time..." Shirou, not understanding her implications, simply stared blankly back at her. Seeing the lack of response, Momodi returned to her previous position and continued on. "Anyroad, welcome to Ul'dah, Shirou! Take a moment to catch your breath, and I'll teach you a little about our fair city." Nodding, Shirou made a mental note to one day carry enough gil that he could pay off any debt some poor unfortunate sap had accrued while in Ul'dah, before motioning that Momodi could continue on.

"Before you go chargin' off to find your fortune, or in your case, saving some poor sod who would sooner rob you blind than repay the favor, I've a few basic tasks I'd like you to perform so as to help you get to know the place. First of all, I want you to visit the Aetheryte Plaza. To get there..." Momodi went on to describe directions to the plaza, before telling him to also visit the Gladiator's Guild, by the Coliseum, and a man named Seseroga at the Sapphire Avenue Exchange, both on the Steps of Thal. Thanking her for the information, Shirou was about to turn before Momodi spoke up again. "Oh, but before you go, a word of advice: while there're more than a few unsavory characters out there who'll try to take advantage of you, there are also some with honest-to-goodness problems who you should consider offerin' a helpin' hand to. A lot of folk are lured to this city by the promise of wealth and power. Just don't go offerin' your help to just anyone because they seem like they need savin', okay Shirou? A lot of folk are lured to this city by the promise of wealth and power. What many of 'em fail to realize is that instead of chasin' after the gil the moment they get here, they ought to be makin' friends. Let it be known that you're willin' to give as much as you get, and opportunities will come your way. And that means funding for whatever heroin' projects you got goin on. And that's all from me. It's past time you got goin'. Oh, and let me know when you've finished, will you? That way, I won't spend my days worryin' that you're down to your smallclothes without a gil to your name." Thanking Momodi once more for her advice and concern, Shirou left the Quicksand and made for the Aetheryte Plaza first, as it would no doubt be an important form of transportation into and around the city eventually.

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 **And I'll be stopping it here for now. Next chapter is the end of the tutorial and should be up by Christmas.**


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